Gay Rights in Olympus
by RenegadeOyu
Summary: Nico has a secret that's tearing him apart and Percy is determined to help even if Nico refuses to accept it. Percico.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Nico groaned as he stepped through the entrance of the school. It was by far the most crowded school he'd ever been to. He didn't like school _or_ crowded places so this was just double the annoyance.

"Did Chiron really need three of us to do this?" He said, dropping his bag on the ground. Seeing as the last school he'd gone to the principal had tried to kill him, Nico hadn't been too eager when he'd gotten the news that he was going back.

"Well he wanted to make sure there was enough protection for the demigod, I guess," Percy shrugged. "Come on, it's not so bad."

"If Percy can avoid blowing up the school, it should be fine," Annabeth chimed in.

"Okay, that was one time," Percy said defensively, jokingly bumping into her.

"Keep in mind this _is_ how we found you an–" Percy hesitated and Annabeth nudged him. Nico rolled his eyes. They always avoided mentioning Bianca around him, which rather pissed him off. He wasn't the little kid he'd been back then, he could handle talking about his dead sister. It's not like he was going to start crying or anything like that.

"Yeah, whatever," he said, slinging his bag over his back and heading towards his first class.

Barely looking where he was going, Nico hit into something big and… kind of sweaty.

"Watch where you're going, _fag_," a boy three times his size said. The guy reeked, as if he hadn't showered in, like, a lifetime. With him was another guy, much smaller. He wore a hat over his longish blond hair and had his arm around a girl's waist.

"Come on, Dean, don't be an ass," the girl said, trying to shrug off the guy at her waist.

The boy, Dean, as if to purely piss the girl off, proceeded to hit into Nico even harder, slamming him against the lockers to his right.

"Hey!" He heard Percy yell as he made his way towards them. "Get lost," he said to the towering boy. The boy stared Percy down for what seemed like an eternity and Nico honestly feared he'd get hit and got ready to step in but the boy just grinned and pushed passed him, followed by his friends. The girl looked back at him with an apologetic look.

Percy turned towards Nico as passersby observed the scene.

"You all right?"

"I'm fine," Nico said.

"You sure?"

"I don't need you to stick up for me," Nico said bitterly.

"Well you weren't really doing a good job of sticking up for yourself," Percy said defensively. "I was just trying to help."

"Yeah well..." Nico didn't finish his sentence, just walked away from his friends and headed towards his class. He just wanted this whole quest to be over.

Just over a week ago Grover had sent a message to Chiron suspecting that there might be a few demigods at this school. They were supposed to meet up with him during lunch break to see who the potential demigods were, but Nico couldn't care less. He didn't even really understand why _he'd_ been chosen to help out with this. He rarely associated with Camp Half Blood.

He also didn't understand who had put Math as his first class. It was one of the highest forms of cruelty, really.

The class was empty when he got there except for the teacher at his desk. The old frail-looking man looked up from a dictionary-sized book and looked at Nico with thick glasses.

"Ah, you must be Nicholas di Angelo," the teacher said.

"Just Nico, actually," he said.

"My apologies." The teacher put his book down and Nico could read the title _Perseus. _He laughed at the irony.

"You can sit anywhere you like," the old man said.

Nico surveyed the class seating arrangements. All the desks were paired up in two, meaning he was probably going to have to actually sit next to someone. He opted for the farthest desk to the right at the back of the class. He took the seat closest to the window and sat down, setting his bag next to him and sighed. Class hadn't even started yet and he was already counting the minutes until it was over. One hour and ten minutes.

At one hour and five minutes, students began piling in the class, sitting with one another and chatting about weekend plans and the upcoming dance and god knows what else. A few people looked his way but other than that no one paid him any attention.

The bell rang and no one had sat down next to him and he dared wonder for a second if the seat was actually vacant. He couldn't be that lucky.

Ten minutes into the class Nico was already dozing off when the door opened and a girl walked in. Nico immediately recognized her as the girl he'd seen that morning with the big guy, Rick.

"I'm so sorry for being late," she said. "My dad's car wouldn't start." Nico cocked an eyebrow. She was obviously lying, since he'd seen her not twenty minutes ago.

"Just take a seat." The teacher said, not seeming amused. He seemed used to this. The girl began walking towards the back of the class and Nico cursed under his breath. Of course the seat would be hers. She paused for a second when she noticed him sitting there. She had black hair that reached her shoulder blades and piercing brown eyes. She was dressed mostly in black, which might have made her seem aggressive if it wasn't for the adorable chubby cheeks and hot pink lips.

"You're in my seat," she said in a small voice.

"I'm sorry." Nico stammered. "I didn't know–" The girl grinned and sat down next to him.

"I'm kidding, calm down." She waited until the teacher turned his attention back to the board before turning to him.

"Do I smell right now?" she asked, leaning towards him. Nico shook his head. What?

"Okay, good. I just wanted to make sure no one could smell it."

Nico wondered what 'it' was. She didn't give him time to come up with a possible answer.

"You must be the new kid everyone's been talking about," the girl said.

"People have been talking about me?" Nico raised his eyebrows. The only time people ever talked about him was to make fun of him. This couldn't be good.

"The one dating the quote, insanely hot blonde, unquote."

Nico rolled his eyes. "No, that's Percy," he said, leaning his cheek on his fist.

"Oh, the cute one that was with you earlier?" She said, winking at Nico. He blushed, trying to formulate words, which only made her laugh. "I'm kidding, geez. He seems like a complete douche, to be honest."

"He isn't," Nico said defensively.

"... And if everyone could pay attention, that'd be great," the teacher said, eyeing the two teens in the back.

"For his age, he has wicked hearing," the girl mumbled under her breath. "I'm Lydia by the way."

"Nico," he told her.

"What's your schedule?" She asked before grabbing his schedule. "We have cooking together for last class." She said. Both of them nearly jumped out of their skin when the teacher slapped a worksheet on their desks. They both looked at each other for a second before grabbing their respective pages and working on them.

Nico sighed. How on earth was he supposed to do this? He hadn't actually been in school in years and it didn't help that the numbers were just everywhere and doing things numbers shouldn't be. His dyslexia hadn't gotten any better over the years.

He just put down random answers, figuring that he wasn't going to be here for long anyways so what did it really matter if he passed or not.

Percy was thankful that most of his classes were with Annabeth. Since they'd started dating, they'd barely been apart for more than a day or so. That and it was most likely the only way he wouldn't get kicked out. Even if they weren't going to be here long he felt some deep need to prove his past self wrong. That he could succeed in school despite the ADHD and despite the demigod life.

"Are you even paying attention?" Annabeth whispered from behind him.

"Yeah X equals 42 right?" he whispered back.

"We're in History, you Idiot."

He grinned. Maybe it was a bit wrong, but he thought she looked so adorable when angry.

He waited for her when the bell rang, taking her books like the gentleman he was and held her hand. They walked through the main exits and made their way towards the tables outside.

"So where did Grover say he'd meet us?" she asked, interlacing her fingers with his.

"At one of the tables outside," he told her. "I don't know where Nico is, though."

"He'll find us." Annabeth said, nodding towards the table Grover was sitting on. His eyes shifted everywhere as he subconsciously chewed off bits of his soda can.

It felt weird seeing him with fake feet again.

"Percy!" Grover said reassuringly, "Annabeth!" He ran towards them making awkward sheep sounds as he hugged them, causing a few people to glance their way.

"Hey, man!" Percy said, high fiving his friend.

"I was getting worried Chiron wouldn't send help." He cringed. "She's a bit... Unapproachable."

"The demigod?" Annabeth asked.

"She's… intimidating." He said. Percy chuckled. How could anyone who was friends with Thalia or faced Kronos, and monsters on a near-daily basis, be intimidated by a teenage girl? Then again this was Grover.

"Who is she?" Annabeth asked. Grover looked around for a few seconds, trying to spot her.

"That would be her," he said, pointing near the entrance where Nico also just happened to be.

"She doesn't _look_ that intimidating," Annabeth mumbled. Percy watched as the girl began talking to Nico. She was wearing black jeans and a green army jacket.

"Unapproachable number one is approaching unapproachable number two," Percy said, laughing a little too much at his own joke, resulting in a weird look from his friends.

Nico leaned against the wall. He debated whether he should stay or just ditch the rest of the day. It's not like the others actually needed him, so why should he stay? He could see them talking to Grover on the other side of the schoolyard near the picnic tables, but frankly didn't feel like joining them. Part of him wanted them to notice. Wanted them to look over and wave, yell _Hey buddy, come on over. Join us. _

He laughed at how pathetic that sounded. Truth is, even if they _would_ do that, even if they would notice anything, he wouldn't join them. Wouldn't let them in.

"Hey Mr. Antisocial," Lydia said, leaning on the wall next to him. He rolled his eyes, turning towards her, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Are you always this moody?" she laughed. Nico just glared at her.

"You look like you could use a little boost." She grinned. It was a mischievous grin.

"What do you mean?" Nico asked. "A boost?"

"A green boost." She said. His eyes slightly. Was she offering him drugs or was he just stupid right now? He glanced back towards Percy and the others who were now looking in his direction. He knew if he had lunch with them, they'd probably hover and annoy him. Like some dumb kid they needed to protect.

"Yeah, sure." He said. "Whatever. Anything to get out of Social Sciences."

"Good choice." She said, beginning to walk towards the edge of the school yard. "Come on." She said. He glanced back towards his friends, meeting Percy's glance for half a second but choosing to follow Lydia. They didn't need him.

They walked through the school yard and a few blocks until they reached a building under construction. It looked like someone had decided to build an apartment building but had given up halfway and left everything lying around.

"Should we really be here?" Nico asked, feeling a little nervous.

"Why?" Lydia grinned. "You scared?"

"Of course not." Nico said defensively. After being in the Labyrinth and the underworld and insert-every-other-creepy-places-he'd-been-here, some abandoned building didn't scare him. He just didn't want either of them getting in trouble.

"Relax. This place is abandoned. No one ever comes here." Lydia bit her lip and tossed something at him. He caught it and examined the bag. The bottom was full of green dried-looking… Stuff. It kinda looked like leaves if you squinted. Not really.

"Never seen pot before?" Lydia asked, taking the bag from his hands and opening it. She brought it to her face and inhaled.

The smell quickly reached Nico's nose, making him scrunch his face as if he'd just smelled something bad, which he had. It smelled like skunk with a hint of either mint or lemon. He wasn't even sure which.

"You get used to the smell." Lydia said, taking a few of the green buds out. He'd never done drugs or really wanted to but he couldn't help but watch as she put the marijuana into a small round grinder and twisted the contraption, resulting in finely chopped weed. He had to think quickly before she asked him to smoke. He could say he was allergic. Or make something up.

She rolled the weed into a firm joint and lit one end, putting the other to her lips. He watched her exhale the smoke from her lungs and it took him a moment to realize that she was passing it to him.

"Oh." He said, taking it. "Do I Just…"

"Like this." She said, arranging his hands so he was holding it correctly, leaving her hands on his for a second longer than she should have.

"He's not answering his phone." Percy said, ending the call and putting his phone down. He tapped his fingers nervously on his glass of cherry coke.

"Calm down." Annabeth laughed.

"I'm just worried." He said. "I mean he just left with her…"  
"You're probably jealous that Nico's already made a new friend and you haven't," Annabeth teased, making him laugh.

Percy laughed and shook his head.

"That's exactly it," he said.

"Nico kind of had a point earlier, though," Annabeth said. "I don't really understand why Chiron recruited him for this quest. I mean I'm not complaining, but he rarely does anything for Camp."

"Oh, well," Percy scratched his head subconsciously. "I may have talked him into it," he admitted.

"What? Why?"

"I don't know," Percy said. "The guy always seems so lonely half the time. I figured if he was forced on a quest he might… I don't know. Socialize or something."

Annabeth smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Your overprotectiveness is cute, seaweedbrain."

"So what are we doing next week?" he asked, trying to change their subject.

"Why would we be doing something next week?" Annabeth asked, trying to act casual. He knew she was teasing him. Testing him.

"Well I heard there was maybe this … Anniversary type thing?" he said, going along with it.

"Oh really?" She said.

"Yeah, one-year or something like that." He shrugged, popping a fry into his mouth. She leaned over the table, kissing him.

"So what _are_ we going to do?" She said, stealing a couple of his fries.

"Well I've got a couple ideas." He said, grinning at her. He actually had no idea, but he'd figure something out. He always kind of did.

"And don't get me something too expensive either," she said. "Just because it's our one-year doesn't mean we have to go overboard with gifts."

Percy chuckled. _Gifts?_ He hadn't even gotten anything yet. He was screwed. He was also broke.

"It'll be great." He said. He heard a bell sound and reached to check his phone when he realized it was Annabeth's. Maybe matching ringtones hadn't been the best idea. She unlocked her phone, replying to the message immediately.

"Who is it?" Percy asked. Partly out of curiosity, partly out of paranoid jealousy.

"Just my dad." She said. "He actually wants me home soon, so I should head back."  
"I'll drive you." He offered.

"He's waiting for me at a bookstore just a few blocks down." She said, kissing his cheek. "I'll walk."

"Well let me walk you there, at least." He pleaded, taking her hand in his. "What kind of boyfriend lets his girl walk alone?"

"The kind who doesn't need to protect her 24/7?" She raised an eyebrow, teasing.

"Fair enough." He mumbled, kissing her before she left.

It's not that he believed she was lying, but he knew that she and Luke had been talking. Percy had felt uneasy since Luke had come back to Camp. Something didn't feel right. You know, besides the fact that he was supposed to have died.

He knew Annabeth would never cheat on him, but he also knew that she used to have a crush on Luke and they were quite close.


	2. Chapter 2

Nico looked around the hotel room, making sure he hadn't forgotten anything. He even checked under the beds and in the drawers even though he had kept everything in his bag.

He was about to leave when he realized he hadn't made the bed. He checked the time and figured he could still make it. He made the bed quickly and made sure everything was in order and as if he had never been there then shadow travelled to the warehouse, where he knew Lydia would be waiting.

This was about the closest Nico had ever come to having friends. If you could really call them that. In the entire two weeks he'd been enrolled in school he'd shown up for a few mornings and basically ended up skipping the rest of the day with Lydia and her idiot friends.

He didn't know why, to be honest. The big guy, Dean, was an ass. And the other one, Josh, who'd previously been Lydia's boyfriend or something (he hadn't really kept up with Lydia's story) wasn't any better. They were both assholes who got high all the time.

Why he hung out with these morons, he really did not know. Probably because Lydia kept asking him to and he found it hard to say no to her. She was pretty persuasive. She also gave him free pot.

That was another thing. Smoking was weird. It hadn't been part of the plan. But it helped. It stopped him from going crazy. It temporarily stopped the dark annoying thoughts popping in his head.

"Lydie, babe," Josh said, trying not to cough. "Why you goin' with this fag anyways?"

Nico tried not to react to the comment. He wanted to desperately smash Josh's face in a wall. It would bring him great pleasure. But he didn't say anything. It wasn't worth it.

"Can you not be an ass for like, one day?" Lydia shoved Josh. "Like, just one day. It would be marvelous."

"I'm just askin'." Josh shrugged. Lydia rolled her eyes and got up, dragging Nico with her.

"Come on," she shook her head.

"I'm sorry that Josh is such an ass," Lydia said once they were away from the abandoned lot.

"It's fine," Nico shrugged.

"No, it's really not," Lydia said, enraged. "You don't have to let him say that shit to you, you know."

Nico didn't say anything. Lydia was still holding his hand. He didn't know what to make of it. He'd never really held anyone's hand before. This was weird.

"Nico?" Lydia stopped dead in her tracks, looking back at him.

"Yeah?" he forced himself to look at her. He could tell his hand was getting sweaty and gross in hers.

"Do you like me?" she asked. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Did she mean like _that_? Nico opted for the safe route.

"I mean, yeah," he said. "You're pretty cool." He felt the awkward silence linger between them. Then she closed her eyes and got closer to him and he really started freaking out.

"Um, we should probably hurry," he said, letting go of her hand and backing up. "We'll be late for school or something." He wondered if he sounded even more stupid out loud than in his head right now. Lydia gave him a disappointed look for a split second.

"Yeah, you're right."

Nico was kind of regretting coming back to school before lunch was over. He'd cleverly avoided the cafeteria until now. Back when he and Bianca went to the same school they'd always eat lunch together. Right up until she hit high school, anyways. That was one dreadful year of eating lunch in the bathrooms.

"So you and Lydia, huh?"

Nico rolled his eyes as he slid his tray towards the disgusting cafeteria food. Not that he was ungrateful or anything but what kind of meat _was _that?

"Really Annabeth?" He sighed.

"She does seem pretty into you," Percy said, backing her up. "You guys are always together."

"Not you too." Nico sighed. He couldn't even talk to a girl without his friends obsessing over it, could he? He really didn't want this.

"You guys would be cute together." Annabeth said, nudging him. He was about to think of a clever rebuttal when he felt someone hit into him, slamming his tray against his chest. Which wouldn't have been a big deal if it wasn't spaghetti day and if he wasn't wearing the one white shirt he owned.

"Aw did little emo boy find himself a cute boyfriend?" Dean said with his obnoxious laugh. Nico felt the anger bubbling inside him but only gritted his teeth. He looked into Dean's eyes with an unintentional glare that seemed to make the fridge-sized boy uncomfortable for about a second. He then laughed and pushed past Nico.

"Why didn't you do anything?" Percy said in disbelief.

"It's not worth it." Nico mumbled. He examined his shirt, sighing and rolling his eyes.

"Let's go." Percy said, guiding Nico away from the mess that was supposed to be his lunch. "I have extra clothes in my locker."

Nico followed Percy as they made their way to the lockers. Annabeth had stayed behind with Lydia.

"But really, you guys have been hanging out often." Percy pointed out as he put the combination in his lock. "You and Lydia I mean."

"Well, you guys aren't doing much of a good job finding out if she's the demigod, are you?" He answered sarcastically.

"Okay, okay. Fair enough," Percy said defensively. "I was just pointing it out." His grin said otherwise as he threw an orange shirt which Nico caught.

"Really, a Camp shirt?"

"I'm sorry." Percy said. "I think I actually have a shirt of Annabeth's in here too if you want to wear that instead."

Nico didn't even want to question why that was. He looked at the Orange camp shirt with disgust.

"Gods, Nico. It's just a shirt." Percy said, rolling his eyes. Nico barely had time to process what was happening when Percy looked around then took his own shirt off, tossing it towards Nico who failed to catch it. He tried to block the stupid thoughts suddenly popping in his mind by picking up the shirt. He hoped his face wasn't as red as it felt. He averted his eyes as Percy put the camp shirt on.

He looked around quickly, making sure there was no one around, then glared at Percy.

"Don't look." He said, turning around and taking his spaghetti stained shirt off. He suddenly felt self-conscious as hell, feeling his face heat up as he hurried to put the too-big shirt on.

"Blue is a nice color on you." Percy said, trying to hide a smile.

"Shut up." Nico said, punching his shoulder. A sudden wave of panic went through him. "Shit. Where's my bag?" He looked frantically around the empty hallway.

"You had it in the cafeteria, right?" Percy said. "Annabeth probably has it."

Nico turned around, hurrying back towards the cafeteria.

They looked around but neither Annabeth nor Grover could be found.

"Damn it!" Nico cursed.

"It's just a backpack." Percy said. "What's the big deal?"

"Everything I own is in there, Percy." Nico shook his head. "Literally everything." He sped out of the cafeteria wondering where the hell he could have left his bag. He didn't even know if Percy was following him anymore. He didn't care. He hurried towards the school entrance. Could he have left it outside in the morning?

He opened the doors and his heart nearly dropped.

He'd found his bag. Along with the rest of his stuff scattered everywhere in the school-yard; His clothes, few books, everything.

"What…" He looked around, shocked. There weren't a lot of people outside since it was raining, but that didn't make him feel any better.

Everything he owned, pictures, clothes, all spread out in the mud and rain.

Percy walked by him in pure silence. Nico just looked at the older demigod who began picking up some of his belongings.

"Dean," Nico said through his teeth. "He did this."

"Why do you hang out with those idiots?" Percy asked as he picked up Nico's bag and began putting things in it.

Nico followed him, helping him out in silence. He felt utterly humiliated.

"Why do you have _everything_ you own in that bag?" Percy suddenly asked.

Nico avoided looking at him.

"You told me you found a place to stay." Percy said sternly.

"I do." Nico sighed. "I just, change that place every night." Percy gave him a confused look. "I shadow travel into hotel rooms or empty apartments," he said.

"Nico," Percy began. "If you need a place to stay I–"

"No." Nico said, picking up the last of his belongings off the ground. "I'm fine. Stop worrying." He didn't want Percy's pity. He didn't want him thinking he was some pathetic puppy needing a warm home. He was fine.

"I'm fine." He repeated before walking away from Percy. He looked for Lydia, knowing she would help him feel better. She was the only one who even remotely understood him right now.

**AN; Hello cool cats. I think I'm finally ready to start posting this story regularly! So that would mean one chapter a week or maybe one every 5 days or so. I'll figure out a better schedule. The entire story is already written out all that I need to do now is edit : ) I hope you guys like it~ **


	3. Chapter 3

Nico stood on the ledge, looking at the ground below. It was a pretty long fall. He walked towards one end of the ledge to the other like he'd been doing for the past ten minutes. He stopped and looked ahead. Maybe if he didn't look directly at the ground it wouldn't be as hard.

_Three…_

_Two…_

But what would Bianca say? Surely if his sister could see him right now she'd be ashamed. No she'd hit him. Push him back to safety. Nico laughed. Safety was the last thing he cared about right now.

Because she wasn't there anymore, was she? Maybe things would have been different if she had. Maybe he wouldn't have… Turned out this way.

It wasn't the first time he found himself in this situation; on the brink of death. Oftentimes when he walked on bridges he momentarily debated. It's easy to get distracted and lost in shadowtravel. Countless times he could have easily let monsters kill him.

But this was the closest he'd ever had any form of a plan and attempted to go through with it.

"Nico?" _Damn it. _"What are you doing?"

"Go away, Jackson," he said. His voice slightly cracked, making him mentally curse himself.

"Why are you on the school roof?" Percy continued. "Shouldn't you be at your fourth period?"

"Percy, just leave."

"You should get off the ledge you're making me nervous." But Nico wasn't listening to him.

"Are you alright?" Percy asked. "Or are you just being moody again?"

He laughed emotionlessly.

"No, Percy, I am not _alright_." He didn't know why he'd just admitted that to Percy.

"You don't have to be all sarcastic about it," Percy joked. Nico clenched his fists. Stupid Percy. He let out an emotionless laugh.

"It is hilarious, isn't it? The Ghost King wanting to die. Ironic."

He heard something and turned to see Percy climbing over the ledge too.

"What are you doing?"

"If you jump, I jump," Percy said calmly, looking at his friend.

"You're crazy." Nico mumbled.

"In my defense, I'm not the one who got here in the first place." Percy shrugged. "Wait, isn't that a line from Titanic or something?"

"You have no reason to jump." Nico said.

"Yeah? How do you know that?"

"You have the perfect life." Nico laughed coldly.

"My life is nowhere near perfect–" But Nico didn't let him finish.

"You have your mom, your brother isn't dead and you have Annabeth. A home. Your dad doesn't hate you," He said bitterly, as if all these things were his fault.

"Well what reason do _you_ have to jump?" Percy tried asking.

"It doesn't even matter," he said. "Just leave."

"Well if it brought you here it probably matters." Percy still looked at the dark haired boy. Nico sighed. "And if it's that bad well, we'll be dead anyways so who cares?"

"It's just… Everything." He sighed again, frustrated.

"That makes so much sense." Percy said deadpanned. Nico took a deep breath.

"I'm gay," he said.

"Okay." There was a pause. "Is that it?"

"What do you mean _is that it_?"

"Well… I mean, so you like guys. What's the big deal?"

"You're such an ass." Nico rolled his eyes.

"I guess you're right." Percy sighed. "I don't really understand. But I mean if it's such a big deal why don't you just come out and get all this pressure off your shoulders?"

"Are you serious?" Nico said, frustrated. "I'm not even _out_ and I'm already being beaten up at school and threatened…"  
"Yeah but that's only because you let them, Nico." There was a long pause. "Why _do_ you let them?"

"I don't know." Nico admitted.

They both looked at the ground.

"It's a long fall down," Percy said. Nico silently agreed. "You don't really want to jump."

Nico looked at him.

"It may seem like a big deal right now," Percy continued. "But things will get better. Being gay isn't the end of the world."

"It's just… As if being a son of Hades wasn't enough to set me apart from everyone…"

"This doesn't set you apart from anyone, Nico," Percy shook his head. "It doesn't change anything. You're still the same Nico and no one will think otherwise."

Nico didn't say anything. He wanted to believe what Percy was saying.

"Let's get out of here, okay?" Percy asked. "You don't want to do this."

"Yeah," Nico said. "Okay." He turned to step off the ledge, losing his footing and tripping over his own feet. He fell backwards slowly, registering what was happening. He couldn't help but think how this was a pretty embarrassing way to go. Accidental suicide. He felt Percy's hand grab and pull his and then they were both falling.

His body hit the rocky ground of the roof, Percy falling right on top of him, knocking the air right out of him.

"_Ow._" He heard Percy curse. He made to push himself up but fell back on Nico with a stifled yell.

"Are you hurt?" Nico asked once his friend managed to get up.

"Sprained wrist." Percy said, standing up and lending a (non-sprained) hand for his friend. "Are _you_ alright?"

Nico nodded. Percy smiled at him.

"Good." He said, proceeding to grab the younger demigod by the shirt and pulling him closer. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry!" Nico said defensively. The look in Percy's eyes honestly scared him at that moment.

"I mean _honestly_ Nico!" Percy let go and flung his arms, frustrated. "What the _hell_ was that? Why didn't you think to talk to anyone before… Before _this_?

"I just didn't think anyone would care." Percy, who, just a few moments ago, seemed as cool as a cucumber was clearly shaken and flustered.

"What, do you think we just hang around you for the hell of it?" Percy shook his head. "You're my friend Nico, my _best_ friend. Obviously I care."

For a split second Nico felt as if he was about to break and the flood of tears would poor down his cheeks, but he regained his composure.

"You're bleeding." He said, gesturing towards Percy's bloody arm. Percy shook his head.

"Never mind me." He said. "I need you to be okay." He said.

"I am okay." Nico said, his voice giving him away.

"Clearly." Percy shook his head.

"Can we just get out of here?" Nico suddenly asked.

"You know you can talk to me, right?" Percy asked.

"I know but right now I just want to get out of here."

Nico leaned on the bathroom wall, watching as Percy ran his hand under water. To this day he was still amazed how water healed him perfectly. You'd have thought that after hundreds of times of seeing this, he'd get over it.

"I need a smoke." He mumbled before realizing he'd just said that out loud.

"You smoke?" Percy asked, though he didn't sound that surprised. "Since when?"

"When you're surrounded by hell's fire, you make use of it." Nico shrugged.

"Do you always have to be dramatic?" Percy rolled his eyes.

"Can we just leave already?" Nico said impatiently. "You're pretty healed up."

"My wrist still hurts." Percy said. "I can't seem to heal it."

"We'll go near water." Nico shrugged.

"Fine, okay." Percy sighed. "Let me go to my locker first."

**A/N: hello! Thanks for reading this far : ) I hope you like it. I just want to point out that I'm aware this story is pretty flawed and such but I've worked on it for over a year and poured so much time and effort into it that I can't ****_not_**** publish it. I hope that you still like it ^^**


	4. Chapter 4

"Why does it matter so much if I smoke?" Nico whined as they were walking towards the empty playground of an elementary school.

"Because I'm pretty sure it'd be bad if the child of Hades died of lung cancer."

"I'm pretty sure you can't get lung cancer from smoking pot." Nico said, rolling his eyes.

"You're smoking _pot_?"

"Come on." Nico said, mockingly. "You've never tried it?"

"Um, no, Nico, I've never _smoked pot._ It was illegal last time I checked."

"You're really bringing law into this? How many laws have you broken by now?" Nico took a rolled joint out of his jeans pocket with a lighter. "It's not a big deal." Inhaling and exhaling a cloud of smoke, Nico handed the joint to Percy, cocking an eyebrow.

"No way, man," Percy shook his head. He leaned on the brick wall next to Nico, watching the younger demigod smoke. He had never known this of him. But then again, he had never known his friend was gay either. His heart still rushed at the thought of everything that had just happened. When the boy had confessed to him though, something had felt odd. He wasn't disgusted or anything. He had nothing against homosexuality. He couldn't quite put his finger on it… But he had felt _something. _Something weird.

"Overthinking?" Nico said, nudging Percy in the ribs. "It's really no big deal." He said, re-offering the joint. This time Percy didn't refuse. He didn't know exactly why he took it, but he placed the thin-papered joint to his lips and breathed until the smoke filled his lungs and burned his throat. It was an impulse, really. Or maybe he was just avoiding finishing that thought.

"Hold it in." Nico said as Percy passed him the joint again. "As long as you ca–" But it was futile, Percy began coughing maniacally.

"Once you start coughing it never ends," Nico said, patting his friend's back. Percy felt very aware of the gesture. Something about the touch felt different now that he knew the truth.

"I don't feel anything," he said, shrugging Nico's hand off his back.

"Give it time." Nico said, passing the joint again. Percy didn't cough as much that time but he began feeling a little… _Light._ Feeling light. What a ridiculous thought that was. How could someone _feel_ light? It's not like your weight actually _changed_… So how did one feel light?

Realizing how stupid his thoughts sounded, Percy had to fight not to burst laughing.

"What?" Nico asked. Percy shrugged. "What's so funny?" Nico suddenly looked self conscious, as if he thought Percy was laughing at him. He could be so adorable and cute sometimes… Wait… _What?_

"I'm not laughing." Percy said before bursting into an uncharacteristic fit of giggles. "You're just _paranoid._" His laughter just became even more uncontrollable.

"Are you really throwing marijuana stereotypes at me?" But Percy wasn't listening he was still laughing. Finally Nico couldn't resist anymore and began laughing himself. After a good ten minutes of pure uncontrolled laughter, the two finally stopped laughing enough for Nico to take out a second joint.

"Have you ever thought about how… Like…"

"Percy, don't."

"Don't what?"

"Go into philosophical thinking." Nico said taking a long drag.

"Why not?"

"It doesn't sound as deep as you think."

"No but seriously, Nico," Percy continued. "Like… Do you realize? We are demigods."

"Yeah I've known that for a while now, thanks."  
"No, Nico, Like… We are literally children of fucking _gods_." He laughed. "Isn't that crazy?" He turned to look at his friend, but Nico wasn't listening. His eyes were focused on nothing. He was deep in thought. Percy noticed things now that he hadn't noticed before. Signs that his friend suffered more than he lead on to believe. Dark circles under his eyes, pale face, he'd lost weight too. But, why? Was it all because of the whole gay thing? Did it really bother him that much? Or was it more than that?

Nico was staring back at him now, he realized. Neither of them said anything.

"You okay?" Percy asked. It hadn't completely dawned on him until then how his friend had just almost tried to kill himself.

"Yeah, are you?" Nico asked back. Percy didn't respond. If he hadn't seen Nico go up those stairs… If he hadn't asked for a hall pass at the right time… Nico could be dead now.

"Percy?"

Something inside Percy snapped right then. He realized what he'd felt earlier hadn't been anything near disgust.

"You're spacing out, idiot." Nico deadpanned. "What are you thinking?"

"Shut up." Percy said, pacing for a few seconds before stopping in front of Nico. "I just…" He began, but the marijuana was making it hard for him to formulate what he wanted to say. "Just don't freak out." He said, stepping closer to his friend.

"What are you doing?" Nico asked, panic rising in his voice.

"Shut up." Percy said. His mind was rushing and his heart was pounding as he leaned towards Nico. It was almost painful when their lips smashed together but there was something else. A feeling at the bottom of his stomach, like a billion butterflies crashing against his innards, trying to break free.

He didn't know what had even prompted him to do this, but he gripped Nico's shoulders tight, taking in as much of the kiss as possible. It didn't take long for Nico to kiss him back, to his relief. It was a moment of pure bliss as hands slid on his chest, right over the Camp Half Blood writing. He felt Nico grip his shirt before pushing him away rather abruptly.

"What the hell are you doing?" Nico said, covering his mouth with the back of his fist. His face was flushed with an angry look. Percy took a step back. Had he made a mistake?

"I- I don't know you just… You told me you were gay so–"

"_Yeah but_ you_ didn't_." Nico ran his hand through his hair, something he'd always done when panicking. It was usually adorable but not right now. "You can't just _do_ that, Percy. You can't just… Out of freaking nowhere _kiss_ me!"

"Why not?" Cocking an eyebrow, Percy asked. He'd clearly stumped Nico, since his mouth opened, as if to say something, then closed. There was a silence as the two of them stood there, looking at each other. Not quite understanding what had just happened.

It happened so fast that the next thing Percy knew, Nico's lips were on his and his hands were wrapped around his neck.

Percy was glad they were slightly isolated from the public eye. Especially considering how heated things were. Nico, pinned to the brick wall, hands exploring, Percy kissing him, well, practically everywhere from the shoulders up. They were a chaotic mess of heavy breathing and lip locking.

Percy suddenly felt something vibrating in his pocket. It took him a second to realize it was someone calling him. He pulled away from Nico, leaving them both slightly breathless. He took the phone out of his pocket.

"Shit." He said before answering. "Hello?"

"Percy?" Annabeth said. "Where are you?"

Percy racked his currently-fried (From multiple sources) brain for an acceptable excuse.

"I'm so sorry." He said. "I completely forgot we had plans tonight."

"On our anniversary?" She didn't sound impressed. _Shit_. He'd forgotten about that.

"Where are you right now?" He asked. "We could go to an A&amp;Ws then see a movie." His stomach _had_ been grumbling for a while now. After a bit of persuasion he managed to convince her to meet up with him.

As he hung up the phone the reality of things hit him; He'd forgotten about their one-year anniversary because he'd been making out with his best friend Nico. Who was a guy. Who was also avoiding looking at him. His clothes were all messed up, his hair messy, but his face showed no sign of what had just happened.

"That was Annabeth." Percy said.

"I figured."

"I have to go." What else was there to say? Neither of them seemed in a rush to talk about what had just happened so Percy turned to leave, but then faced Nico again.

There was an awkward silence.

"Seriously though, are you okay?" he asked.

"_I _am." Nico said. "Are you? I mean this is the second time you ask." Nico laughed. Percy closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Actually, you know what, no I'm not." He shook his head almost disbelieving himself. "Not even an hour ago you were standing on a fucking ledge and now you're acting like nothing even happened." He shrugged. "I mean, what, Were you just trying to mess with my head or something because this is seriously not cool."

"Do you seriously think I would _pretend_ to be…" Nico paused, lowering his voice. "That I would pretend to be suicidal? Honestly, Percy?"  
"Well I don't know, would you?" Percy snapped. "Because I've learned many things about you today. One of those things being that I barely know you."

"Well what do you want me to say?" Nico yelled back, frustrated. " 'I'm sorry'?"

"No, I just… I want you to talk to me, man." Percy said. "I don't want you to have to keep everything so bottled up that you get to the point where you think there's no way out."

"I don't want to talk about this." Nico said. "I'm fine, okay? This may be new to you but I've been dealing with this for a long time."

The words, which were meant to comfort him, only really broke Percy's heart even more.

"Just… Promise me you won't do anything stupid." Nico rolled his eyes. "Promise!"  
"Okay, yes, Percy! I promise, geez."

"I'm going to call you around six to make su–"

"Oh my gods, Percy, just go!"

After standing there for another quiet minute, Percy turned and walked away. He wanted desperately to turn around and stay with Nico to make sure he was all right. His friend's safety was important. And maybe his soft-as-hell hands were too… And his lips–

_Maybe pot was a bad idea…_ He thought as he began to make his way home.

* * *

**A/N: Hello yoloswagsters, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm going to try updating every four days. The entire thing is already written out so it shouldn't take long between updates : ) **

**also I just wanna be clear I am not promoting marijuana in any way or anything like that! drugs are bad :D **

**Anyways let me know what you think ^ ^ Ciao yoloswagsters **


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